No medevac flight for 30-year military veteran from Prince George

Della Deleavey spent seven days and 5,300 kilometres transporting her elderly father from British Columbia to the care home he deserves, the Veterans Health Centre in Moncton, N.B.

She made the trip out of necessity for her 80-year-old father, Leigh Deleavey, a 30-year veteran of the Canadian Armed Forces, as she could no longer care for him at their home in Prince George.

When she secured a bed for him in New Brunswick, close to where Leigh was born and raised, Della sought assistance from Veterans Affairs Canada to arrange a private medevac flight to Moncton but was denied. Unable to afford the $11,000 cost of sending him on a commercial flight with a nurse, she had no choice but to undertake the arduous cross-country journey in their pickup truck.

Stricken with severe chronic obstructive pulmonary disease, liver cancer, and several other debilitating conditions, Leigh faced a minimum two-year waitlist for a care home bed in Prince George, despite already waiting a full year. Consequently, Della felt compelled to make the long drive herself.

“This is horrible, six or seven days – it was so hard on his body,” said Della. “No veteran should have to go through that. I am relieved we’re here, but there’s still a lot to do.”

Della is from Miramichi, N.B., and both her parents are from Plaster Rock, about a three-hour drive from Moncton. They have family members and close friends living near the care home. Della’s 18-year-old son, Austin Ramsay, accompanied them on their trip during the last week of August to help care for his grandfather.

Leigh retired 33 years ago from his last Air Force posting at Cold Lake, Alta., and he and his wife moved to Prince George. Before his health deteriorated, he worked part-time as a commissionaire at Prince George Airport and also served as an armoured car security officer and snowplow driver.

During a visit to Moncton last year, Della picked up a pamphlet for the Veterans Health Centre and brought it back to Prince George for her father.

“He said, ‘That’s where I want to go; I can relate to people there,’ so I started the process,” Della said.

In April, she learned that a bed was available for him, and that’s when their travel troubles began. His doctor advised that he would need a nurse to fly with him on a commercial plane, but the family could not afford the $11,000 bill. A private medevac flight would cost $60,000.

Veterans Affairs denied her application. She also requested assistance from the Royal Canadian Legion but was turned down.

“Veterans Affairs said it’s a want, not a need for him to come to the veterans' home,” Della said.

“They said if we put him in the hospital, we’d have a better chance of getting him a care home bed, and I’m not doing that. Veterans Affairs told me that if he was in the hospital or a care home in Prince George and wanted to come to the Veterans Health Centre in Moncton, they would fly him, but because he wasn’t in a home and was living at his residence, they would not do it. What’s the difference?”

Their week-long highway trip’s gas, hotel rooms, and meals cost more than $4,000.

One of the first things Della did upon arriving in Moncton was buy her father a TV.

An occupational therapist at the Veterans Health Centre requested a motorized scooter for Leigh and a home oxygen concentrator to replace the heavy gas canisters he relied on during much of the three years he’s been in palliative care.

Della hopes Veterans Affairs will cover the cost of these medical devices. After being denied twice for a portable oxygen concentrator in Prince George, Leigh bought a second-hand machine that failed just as they arrived in Moncton.

Leigh was hospitalized for two months during the pandemic with COVID-induced pneumonia and has required an external oxygen source ever since. He has had one kidney removed and also needs a colostomy bag due to colon cancer.

“The left lower lobe of his lung is gone, and there’s nothing they can do for his liver cancer; even if he chose treatment, it would be fatal due to his health,” Della said. “He has no balance without his walker and his hands are numb, making it hard for him to feed himself.

“He needs 24/7 care. His legs are starting to give out even with his walker. He has mild dementia that will only get worse. All he was doing was lying in that bed, depressed. All his friends in Prince George have either passed away or moved to New Brunswick. Other than my son’s friends, nobody would visit him.”

Now that he’s settled in Moncton, Leigh is seeing old friends and family members, and his brother lives nearby, which has raised his spirits considerably. He’s still adjusting to the house rules in his new home but is glad to be there.

Della and her youngest son (now deceased) moved in with Leigh after her mother died in December 2019, and she became his primary caregiver. It has been three years since his condition was diagnosed as terminal.

She says her experience with Veterans Affairs has been frustrating and discouraging, especially given Leigh’s exposure to Agent Orange early in his military career while training in Gagetown, N.B., which she suspects contributed to some of his health issues.

“They don’t do anything for veterans, at least not for my dad,” she said.

The Citizen contacted Veterans Affairs Canada. Spokesperson Josh Bueckert said that due to privacy considerations and the Privacy Act, he could not discuss specific details of Deleavey’s situation. He provided a link to the agency’s policy on ambulance care, which states:

“Ambulance services may be approved for transportation to the nearest appropriate health care facility and by various modes of travel, including ground ambulance and air ambulance. The most efficient and economical mode of transportation consistent with the urgency of the situation and the medical condition of the client is to be utilized at all times.

“Air ambulance services may only be approved for transportation to the nearest appropriate health care facility when ground ambulance is considered by the attending physician to be medically inappropriate.

“The department may authorize payment of fees for an escort to accompany the client during an ambulance trip when one is requested in writing for medical reasons by the client’s physician.”